[Back] [Blueprint] [Next]

His weals laden with unseemly blood showed the ruinous track of the swift lash. Straightway he grovelled before the feet of Priam, and touched his ancient knees with suppliant hands; and entreating the old man he uttered his craftily woven tale:

ãSceptred King, son of Dardanus, behold me the fellow voyager of the Argives, if thou pitiest me, and deliverer of the Trojans and their city, if thou wilt save me, and lastly foe of the Achaeans: behold how they evilly entreated me who had done no wrong, heeding not the regard of the gods, evil and unkind always. Even so they snatched away his reward from Achilles, son of Peleus, and even so they left Philoctetes,^a fettered by the bite of the water snake, and slew in wrath Palamedes^b himself. And behold now what they have done to me in their wicked folly, for that I would not flee with them, but bade my comrades stay. Overcome by frenzied foolishness they stripped me of my raiment and wounded all my body with unseemly stripes and left me on an alien shore. But, blessed one, do thou have regard unto the majesty of Zeus, the god of suppliants. For I shall be a joy to the Argives, if thou lettest a suppliant and a stranger perish at the hands of the Trojans. But I shall be surety unto all of you that ye no more dread returning war of the Achaeans.ä

So he spake, and the old man comforted him with gentle voice: ãStranger, it befits thee not to be afraid any more since thou hast mingled with the

NOTES

^a Philoctetes, son of Poeas, king of Malis, having on the voyage to Troy been bitten by a water snake and his wound having become noisome, was left by the Greeks in Lemnos. Afterwards they learned that Troy could not be taken without Philoctetes and the arrows which he had received from Heracles. So he was brought to Troy by Odysseus, and his wound being healed by Machaon he slew Paris.

^b Palamedes, son of Nauplius, king of Euboea, exposed the ruse by which Odysseus tried to avoid the expedition to Troy. In revenge Odysseus contrived to bury a quantity of gold in the tent of Palamedes and forged a letter from Priam offering bribes for the betrayal of the Greek army. Palamedes was found guilty of treason and stoned to death.

[Back] [Blueprint] [Next]

The corresponding page of Greek text with line numbers will be here below at some point ("We" have to learn an efficient way to format ancient Greek text on the web!)